


Guarding From the Shadows/A Light in the Sky

by CycloneRachel



Category: Batwoman (TV 2019), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Coffee Shops, F/F, Femslash February, Fluff, Light Angst, One Shot, Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), Pre-Femslash, mentioned Batman and Superman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22564678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CycloneRachel/pseuds/CycloneRachel
Summary: Kate and Kara, and their superhero names.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Kate Kane
Comments: 8
Kudos: 62





	Guarding From the Shadows/A Light in the Sky

Kate hadn’t grown up knowing a Superman.

Well, she had- in the Post-Crisis timeline, or so she heard, Superman and Batman started out at around the same time. Kal-El, or as he was known to the humans, Clark Kent, had pulled Kara’s pod open and set her free from it after she’d spent twenty-four years in the Phantom Zone, around when Batman had pulled Kate from her family’s car, the only survivor of-

One of the survivors of the crash that had killed her mother.

(That was still difficult to adjust to, even if Kate had found out about it before the Crisis)

But even if she did know who he was, before then he would still sound like a myth to her. Someone with too much power to exist on the Earth? Kate already knew about one person like that, and she was going to stick with hers.

It wasn’t like he would have ever gone to Gotham, anyway. Superman would be too good for her city, and however much he tried to clean it up, there would always be more criminals, and more crime.

Kind of like his own city, but without the pretense that everything was okay in the first place.

She knew, deep down, that she should also think the same of Supergirl. But by now she’d worked with her enough, been through enough with her, to know that Kara thought of her and Gotham the same- she hadn’t expected to go there, or meet her, but she had, and she still respected the city and its hero, flaws and all.

(Maybe a little more than respect, considering how right now, they were getting coffee together. But it was more than Kate got from a lot of people, status as the Paragon of Courage be damned)

~

“So… why Supergirl?”

Kara groans, dropping her head into her hands, propped up by her elbows resting on the high table that she and Kate are sitting at together.

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Kate says, gently holding Kara’s wrist, making her look at her. “I was just wondering.”

“Right. Because I was too old to be called a girl when I started?” Kara asks. “I know. And I was just about to ask you, ‘why do you get to be Batwoman?’, but I couldn’t find a way of saying that that didn’t sound…”

“Condescending?”

“Weird. And that, yeah, actually.”

“Well, my feelings are fine, if that was what you were worried about. I understand.” Kate says, thinking of Vesper Fairchild, who has definitely said much worse things about Batwoman without knowing she’s saying them about Kate Kane.

“You do?”

Kate nods.

“Yeah, if it weren’t for-“

Kara’s chin is on her hands now, waiting for Kate to continue, but just thinking of Sophie right now makes her want to avoid the subject in front of Kara- it is the definition of complicated- so she puts it off for the moment.

“For there already being a Batgirl, before me, I’m sure I would’ve gotten that name instead.” She finishes. She doesn’t think about how she was jealous of the girl who had claim to that title when she was younger, that someone around her age was paid more attention to by Bruce than his own cousin was.

She doesn’t hate her now, whoever she was. She actually feels sorry for her, and all the shit she must’ve gone through.

“What about you? Was “Superwoman” taken?”

Kara laughs.

It seems so long ago, all of it- saving her sister and the plane she was on, making a costume with Winn, starting to work with the DEO, getting her superhero name. She’d thought, back then, that she might not even make it through her first year. But here she is, almost five years later, talking about it with her voice tinged with nostalgia. She nearly misses it when things weren’t as complicated, when she had to worry about Fort Rozz and its escapees, and her biggest threats were her aunt and uncle and their soldiers. Her universe is much bigger now, even with the merged Earths, and she’s grateful- that expansion did lead her to Kate, after all. But sometimes she still remembers her origin, and there’s no way she would erase any of that, even for what she has now.

“Not exactly.” She says. “I… really hated the name Supergirl at first, believe it or not.”

“Yeah, I believe it.” Kate answers. “Your groaning the second I asked gave you away.”

“Right.” Kara continues. “My boss at the time, Cat Grant, was the head of a media company. The same one I work at now- although back then, I was just her assistant. And after I got started, she decided to give me the name Supergirl.”

“But Kara Danvers had no say in it, I guess.”

“Exactly. I tried to tell her that I thought it was minimizing. But she didn’t want to hear me, and gave me a speech about how that name wasn’t minimizing at all.”

“Sounds like someone I know.” Kate says. “Or at least, I know her voice. If I saw her in public, I might just punch her.”

“Yeahhh… maybe don’t do that.” Kara answers, although she also considers the people she’s wanted to throw into the sun. “For what it’s worth, Cat became a mentor to me- as Kara and Supergirl. If you give her a chance, this-“

“Vesper.”

“Vesper could be the same. Or she might just be another critic, and you could decide not to listen to her.”

“Yeah, that possibility sounds way better.”

Kara smiles.

“Besides, I bet _she_ hasn’t had to fight her twin sister, or survived the end of the multiverse.”

Kara looks down, suddenly, and her voice trails off after that, and Kate sees the solemn expression on her face, something in her eyes that makes her want to hug Kara, or sit down with her and a few drinks and let Kara share everything she’s feeling.

But right now, in public, isn’t exactly the right time for that, and so Kate goes with a different approach.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if her broadcasts did, though.”

Kara decides that she’s going to call in and give Vesper a piece of her mind, before Kate sets a hand on her arm and she can think of nothing else.

“For what it’s worth, I think Supergirl is a great name.” she says. “It suits you.”

Kara mirrors the gesture.

“Just like Batwoman suits you.” She says. “So, what else has been going on? Because let me tell you-“

“Oh, good luck trying to top _this_.” Kate answers, raising an eyebrow.

Kara raises her chin, in what she hopes is a challenging gesture.

“I’m certainly going to.”

“You’re on.”

~

Kara grew up knowing of Batman.

If it hadn’t been for the Danvers, maybe, she would have been adopted by Bruce Wayne- not that she wishes anything with her chosen family had gone differently, but it was an interesting possibility all the same. Just like the possibility of her arriving on time, and her relationships with everyone she knew changing, even if there were still a few constants in her life whom she would’ve met anyway.

But if she’d been taken in by Bruce at the age of thirteen, in this new Earth she now lived on, perhaps she would have made a friend, and found a kindred spirit.

Another cousin of a famous hero, who’d lost her world, and was putting the pieces back together even years afterwards, devoting herself to her city without her cousin’s presence and doing the best she could with a small group of people she held close to her.

Though she hadn’t known Kate Kane back then, she thought, she saw her blossoming friendship with her as a way of making up for lost time, and as they spent more time together, it would only grow and flourish, as they had on their own.

And now that they had each other, operating separately but finding common ground in concepts as big and nebulous as hope and courage and as common as coffee dates and favorite donuts, Kara could see them truly becoming a team- that Kate had once phrased as the “World’s Finest”.

Or, as Kara would say, they were stronger together. Truly exemplifying _El Mayarah_ , in their personal and professional lives, and they both seemed to be happier for it.

Even if Kate was just a bit out of place in National City- as much as she was getting used to the aesthetic.

**Author's Note:**

> so I almost called this "These are the Names We're Given", because of the famous cousins/legacy thing that Kate and Kara share, and how they got their respective aliases, but that's also my name for a different AU that has nothing to do with Batwoman, so I decided to choose some lyrics from Kirby Krackle's "Counting on You", instead.
> 
> Anyway, I hope this is good? I just got inspired and decided to write it based on the conversation Kate and Kara have in the middle segment, but decided to bookend it as well. Also I hope I got Kate's voice right, this is one of the first times I've written her so comments would be appreciated!


End file.
